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EXPERT ANALYSIS


COMESA RIA


Land of opportunity


Heba Salama, director of COMESA Regional Investment Agency, on why investors must seize the region’s growth potential, or risk being left behind


Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa – or COMESA – have contributed to the region’s improved investment framework and ease of doing business. But Heba Salama, director of the COMESA Regional Investment Agency


I


(RIA), explains that for foreign investors to capitalise on the continent’s potential they must overcome some common misconceptions, compete with growing intra-Africa dealflow, and most importantly, act quickly.


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Which countries and sectors show the greatest prospects regarding inbound FDI over the coming years? Investment opportunities in all sectors abound throughout the COMESA region, at both national and regional levels. While COMESA regional proj- ects are more concerned with the infrastructure needed to facilitate invest- ment and trade across various member states, national projects can be found in sectors such as energy, mining, ICT [information communications tech- nology], real estate, agriculture and agro-processing industries, fisheries, and livestock, tourism, manufacturing, logistics, hospitality, and trade.


FDI outflows grew by 225% between 2011 and 2012


IFLR REPORT | FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT 2014


n the space of a decade, Africa transformed itself from a region plagued by political risks and negative growth, to the world’s most promising investment destination. Integration of 19 of its countries to form the


What are the greatest impediments to FDI into the region today, and what is RIA and investment promotion agencies (IPA) doing to overcome these? While some would argue that the infrastructure and institutional, legal and regulatory environment deficits are the greatest challenges to both invest- ment and trade flows across the region, it is important to highlight that doing business in the COMESA region, and in Africa in general, is much easier than it used to be.


Just thirteen years ago, the Economist described Africa as ‘the hopeless


continent’. In December 2011, the magazine’s cover headline was ‘Africa rising: the hopeful continent’, reflecting not just a change in reality but a complete change in perception.


COMESA member states’ IPAs, although different from one another,


share the missions of promoting and facilitating investment, providing services to investors, and working as advocacy agents to improve the business and investment climates.


RIA’s main mission is to promote the COMESA region and member


states as attractive investment destinations, and improve the business and investment climate, namely through capacity-building programmes targeting IPAs.


Over the past few years, which COMESA countries have made the greatest improvements to their regulatory frameworks, policies, business climate and IPA support mechanisms to attract FDI? From what I have witnessed, most COMESA governments have been mak- ing bold political and economic reforms aimed at further liberalising their FDI regimes and improving their business and investment climates.


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